The Magdalene Mystery.

The French Mystery Cult of Mary Magdalene attracted much interest in recent years with the general scenario that she was the wife of Jesus, they
produced offspring, and this led to a tradition of a secret Bloodline...i think that's wrong...and will present here my own considerations.

The tradition of Mary Magdalene in France was compiled into the Golden Legend

And this is she, that same Mary Magdalene to whom our Lord gave so many great gifts. And showed so great signs of love, that he took from her seven
devils. He embraced her all in his love, and made her right familiar with him. He would that she should be his hostess, and his procuress on his
journey

There was that time with the apostles Saint Maximin, which was one of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord, to whom the blessed Mary Magdalene was
committed by Saint Peter, and then, when the disciples were departed, Saint Maximin, Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus her brother, Martha her sister,
Marcelle, chamberer of Martha, and Saint Cedony which was born blind, and after enlumined of our Lord; all these together, and many other christian
men were taken of the miscreants and put in a ship in the sea, without any tackle or rudder, for to be drowned. But by the purveyance of Almighty God
they came all to Marseilles, where, as none would receive them to be lodged, they dwelled and abode under a porch tofore a temple of the people of
that country

.

...

Above one sees a representation of the death of Mary Magdalene in the cave at Baume, were in legend she had chosen to live out her years in the
wilderness, after landing at Marseille.

Here's a painting on the same theme, the common element being the skull;

There are four general artifacts that will be seen in association with this theme, a book, the skull, an ointment jar and cross with pronounced
vertical proportions.

What Mary sought in the cave was perfect knowledge, the light...

is a lighter, for there she took so largely that she spread it abundantly. She took the light there, with which after she enlumined other, and
in that she chose the best part of the heavenly glory, she is called the light. For then she was enlumined of perfect knowledge in thought, and with
the light in clearness of body. Magdalene is as much as to say as abiding culpable. Or Magdalene is interpreted as closed or shut, or not to be
overcome. Or full of magnificence, by which is showed what she was tofore her conversion, and what in her conversion, and what after her
conversion

Her means to achieving this were her artifacts, the skull, the books, the axis of the cross;

And through these Mary became enlightened;

Through the ointment jar with which she had annointed Jesus as the Messiah, she contemplated the relationship of the physical to the metaphysical and
Divine;

and came to realise the purity of the physical reflecting the Heavenly;

Her closest relationship was to the skull, the evidence would suggest this relates to the skull of Jesus itself, it was her love and she rejected all
others;

nor had need of any child...

It's a remarkable cult and i love the associated images of Mary transforming into this wise woman;

Historians will doubt the veracity of the legend, citing the counter tradition of the early church that Mary Magdalene lived out her days at Ephesus
in Turkey, along with Mary the Mother of Jeus and the apostle John, but it is actually there that the strength of the French tradition lies, in that
at Marseille were Mary is said to have landed was a sister Temple of Artemis of Ephesus;

MASSILIA (Marseilles) City in Gaul (Greek Colony)

Strabo, Geography 4. 1. 4 :
"Massilia [in Gaul] was founded by the [Greek] Phokaians, and it is situated on a rocky place. Its harbour lies at the foot of a theatre-like rock
which faces south … It is on the headland that the Ephesion [temple of Artemis Ephesia] and also a temple of Apollon Delphinios (of the Dolphins)
are situated. The latter is shared in common by all Ionians, whereas the Ephesion is a temple dedicated solely to Artemis Ephesia (of Ephesos): for
when the Phokaians were setting sail from their homeland an oracle was delivered to them, it is said, to use for their voyage a guide received from
Artemis Ephesia; accordingly, some of them put in at Ephesos and inquired in what way they might procure from the goddess what had been enjoined upon
them. Now the goddess, in a dream, it is said, had stood beside Aristarkha, one of the women held in very high honour, and commanded her to sail away
with the Phokaians, taking with her a certain reproduction [of the main statue of Artemis Ephesia] which was among the sacred images; this done and
the colony finally settled, they not only established the temple but also did Aristarkha the exceptional honour of appointing her priestess; further,
in the colonial cities [of Massilia] the people everywhere do this goddess honours of the first rank, and they preserve the artistic design of the
‘xoanon’ [primitive wooden images which were supposed to have originally fallen from heaven] the same, and all the other usages precisely the same
as is customary in the mother-city."

The common denominator then between the two traditions is the Temple of Artemis, and from the Golden Legend;

they came all to Marseilles, where, as none would receive them to be lodged, they dwelled and abode under a porch tofore a temple of the people
of that country

Mary Magdalene is reflecting an aspect of the cult of Artemis, not the Mother Goddess aspect or Goddess of fertility, but that of sister to Apollo,
the cosmic balance.

Apollo was master of a metaphysical cosmic axis that reached into the darkest depths and scaled the most brilliant heights, as symbolised by the
extended vertical cross, his sister was the axis of horizontal balance, a harmonious relationship.

5) Peter said to Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman.

6) Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them.

7) Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you.

8) And she began to speak to them these words: I, she said, I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision. He
answered and said to me,

9) Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of Me. For where the mind is there is the treasure.

You found some pretty hot Mary Magdalene's there. S&F for that alone - but you've made a very good OP and brought up some interesting points (pun
intended). I think the Dan Brown book and all the publicity for Mary Mag. that came with and after that have propelled her into the top tier of
feminist icons, and she'll be a new meme for awhile. I like the skull emphasis, interesting connections, and it's a symbol of Mary M I've not noticed
or remember reading about before. Probably have come across it, but all the pics of the artwork in one place make the symbol of the skull and its
connection to her clear, thanks for collecting these.

You found some pretty hot Mary Magdalene's there. S&F for that alone - but you've made a very good OP and brought up some interesting points (pun
intended). I think the Dan Brown book and all the publicity for Mary Mag. that came with and after that have propelled her into the top tier of
feminist icons, and she'll be a new meme for awhile. I like the skull emphasis, interesting connections, and it's a symbol of Mary M I've not
noticed or remember reading about before. Probably have come across it, but all the pics of the artwork in one place make the symbol of the skull and
its connection to her clear, thanks for collecting these.

edit on 29-3-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

eeek feminists....

Lets not forget that Mary Magdalene was a harlot to begin with.
I wonder how much harlots cost back in those days......?

You found some pretty hot Mary Magdalene's there. S&F for that alone - but you've made a very good OP and brought up some interesting points (pun
intended). I think the Dan Brown book and all the publicity for Mary Mag. that came with and after that have propelled her into the top tier of
feminist icons, and she'll be a new meme for awhile. I like the skull emphasis, interesting connections, and it's a symbol of Mary M I've not
noticed or remember reading about before. Probably have come across it, but all the pics of the artwork in one place make the symbol of the skull and
its connection to her clear, thanks for collecting these.

edit on 29-3-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

eeek feminists....

Lets not forget that Mary Magdalene was a harlot to begin with.
I wonder how much harlots cost back in those days......?

No, not a harolot or prostitute, you've bought into the catholic myth which was an attempt to marginalize her and her time with Jesus and major role
as a female apostle afterwards. At least according to biblical expert Dan Brown.

You found some pretty hot Mary Magdalene's there. S&F for that alone - but you've made a very good OP and brought up some interesting points (pun
intended). I think the Dan Brown book and all the publicity for Mary Mag. that came with and after that have propelled her into the top tier of
feminist icons, and she'll be a new meme for awhile. I like the skull emphasis, interesting connections, and it's a symbol of Mary M I've not
noticed or remember reading about before. Probably have come across it, but all the pics of the artwork in one place make the symbol of the skull and
its connection to her clear, thanks for collecting these.

edit on 29-3-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

eeek feminists....

Lets not forget that Mary Magdalene was a harlot to begin with.
I wonder how much harlots cost back in those days......?

No, not a harolot or prostitute, you've bought into the catholic myth which was an attempt to marginalize her and her time with Jesus and major role
as a female apostle afterwards. At least according to biblical expert Dan Brown.

Well yeah, I was raised Catholic.
---and bible expert Dan Brown?
how can ANYONE be an "expert" with the Bible? People still to this day have trouble 'decoding' the book of Revelation.

-everyone gets thier 'own' individual opinions by simply reading the book. Doesn't mean they need to force thier opinions on others.
anyone that calls themselves an expert on the Bible is egotistical.

Mary's possesion of the actual skull of Jesus does of course contradict the resurrection passage, thought to be a later addition, and the doctrine of
the re-constitution of the physical body and Heavenly ascent...it would suggest a rebirth in spiritual form of more importance, after Gnostic
doctrine.

That was based on confusion of the cult of Mary of Egypt from the first centuries with that of Mary Magdalene, as to how much she charged...

Saint Mary, also known as Maria Aegyptica, was born somewhere in Egypt, and at the age of twelve ran away to the city of Alexandria where she
lived an extremely dissolute life, prostituting herself.[3] In her Vita she states that she often refused the money offered for her sexual favors as
she was driven "by an insatiable and an irrepressible passion," and that she mainly lived by begging, supplemented by spinning flax.

Having the skull of Jesus would "prove" that she was his wife, because who else would have legit claim to the skull! Maybe that's what the
paintings and symbolism were and are hinting at the whole time. (and some things are obviously satire, as is my Dan Brown reference)

I do think that the early Christians and the people who made it into a Religion missed out Magdalene or tarnished her because she is a woman, the
bible and other religious texts speak of women like 2nd class citizens and only in the past 100 years or so have women been able to try and be equal
to men. (as they should be)

Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It begins with the discovery of the empty tomb
by Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. There they encounter a man dressed in white who announces the Resurrection of Jesus.

Verse 8 ends with the women fleeing from the empty tomb, and saying "nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." Many scholars take 16:8 as the
original ending and believe the longer ending (16:9-20) was written later by someone else as a summary of Jesus' resurrection appearances and several
miracles performed by Christians. In this 12-verse passage, the author refers to Jesus' appearances to Mary Magdalene, two disciples, and then the
Eleven (the Twelve Apostles minus Judas). The text concludes with the Great Commission, declaring that believers that have been baptized will be saved
while nonbelievers will be condemned, and pictures Jesus taken to Heaven and sitting at the Right Hand of God.[1]

Most scholars, following the approach of the textual critic Bruce Metzger, hold the view that verses 9-20 were not part of the original text.[1]
Textual critics have identified two distinct endings—the "Longer Ending" (vv. 9-20) and the "Shorter Ending," which appear together in six Greek
manuscripts, and in dozens of Ethiopic copies. The "Shorter Ending," with slight variations, runs as follows: "But they reported briefly to Peter and
those with him all that they had been told. And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable
proclamation of eternal salvation."

There is of course a very strong romantic aspect to her attatchment to the skull, and of course it was considered he loved her the most so certainly
the relationship was of the closest kind.

Artemis as the sister of Apollo, is a kind of female Apollo, that is, she as a female divinity represented the same idea that Apollo did as a
male divinity. This relation between the two is in many other cases described as the relation of husband and wife, and there seems to have been a
tradition which actually described Artemis as the wife of Apollo.

Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It begins with the discovery of the empty tomb
by Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. There they encounter a man dressed in white who announces the Resurrection of Jesus.

Verse 8 ends with the women fleeing from the empty tomb, and saying "nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." Many scholars take 16:8 as the
original ending and believe the longer ending (16:9-20) was written later by someone else as a summary of Jesus' resurrection appearances and several
miracles performed by Christians. In this 12-verse passage, the author refers to Jesus' appearances to Mary Magdalene, two disciples, and then the
Eleven (the Twelve Apostles minus Judas). The text concludes with the Great Commission, declaring that believers that have been baptized will be saved
while nonbelievers will be condemned, and pictures Jesus taken to Heaven and sitting at the Right Hand of God.[1]

Most scholars, following the approach of the textual critic Bruce Metzger, hold the view that verses 9-20 were not part of the original text.[1]
Textual critics have identified two distinct endings—the "Longer Ending" (vv. 9-20) and the "Shorter Ending," which appear together in six Greek
manuscripts, and in dozens of Ethiopic copies. The "Shorter Ending," with slight variations, runs as follows: "But they reported briefly to Peter and
those with him all that they had been told. And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable
proclamation of eternal salvation."

There is of course a very strong romantic aspect to her attatchment to the skull, and of course it was considered he loved her the most so certainly
the relationship was of the closest kind.

Artemis as the sister of Apollo, is a kind of female Apollo, that is, she as a female divinity represented the same idea that Apollo did as a
male divinity. This relation between the two is in many other cases described as the relation of husband and wife, and there seems to have been a
tradition which actually described Artemis as the wife of Apollo.

edit on 29-3-2013 by Kantzveldt because: (no reason given)

Not only lovers, but they had to be married. Had to be, for the skull to be in her control, and to travel with her. The guy had a mother still alive,
and a couple of brothers, and then there were all his buddies. And this chick's going to waltz in and tell them "Dudes, I'm going to rub and cut the
flesh from your bro's head, and then boil it in something, and then I'm taking the skull." "Yeah, sure Mary, we're down with that? The Virgin Mary,
what do you say?" "Stop calling me that! Anyway, yeah, sure, boil my son's head and be off with his skull. That's fine."

No, it couldn't have happened like that. Mary Magd' didn't just waltz in and talk everyone into letting her take his skull. She had first dibs on it!
She had to be Jesus' wife. Or at least in the artistic tradition presented in the OP. There is no other reason for that tradition to exist than to
tell the viewing public (paintings were the CNN, FOX, and MSNBC of the day) that Mary Magdalene had prioritory status over the head of Jesus Christ
after his death. She could have been no other than his wife.

Never knew about the skull paintings and pictures before, so the skull thing seems obvious. I like the same painting the OP likes, the one with the
long hair. That painting has power and beauty both. Thanks again for posting all of them.

EDIT

oes anyone see a hole in this theory?

It could be she was crazy and stole the skull, and everyone just let her have it to not cause a fuss. Crazy Mary, only she would steal a skull, loony
tunes, let's not alert the people we know that if they happen to see her, maybe they could help get Jesus' head back to us, to be buried with his body
maybe? Hah, forget it, let her have it. Crazy Mary. Who'd believe it anyway?

Or they were "just friends" and the skull was willed her in Jesus' last will. Possible. Likely he would have just given her a lock of hair or
something. Are there any other reasonable alternates that the paintings portraying Mary with Jesus' skull would have meant? I'm going with crazy, koo
koo, koo koo. "Come back here with that!" Or maybe the wife thing.

Originally posted by Kantzveldt
There was that time with the apostles Saint Maximin, which was one of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord, to whom the blessed Mary Magdalene was
committed by Saint Peter, and then, when the disciples were departed, Saint Maximin, Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus her brother, Martha her sister,
Marcelle, chamberer of Martha, and Saint Cedony which was born blind, and after enlumined of our Lord; all these together, and many other christian
men were taken of the miscreants and put in a ship in the sea, without any tackle or rudder, for to be drowned. But by the purveyance of Almighty God
they came all to Marseilles, where, as none would receive them to be lodged, they dwelled and abode under a porch tofore a temple of the people of
that country

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